A 21-year-old girl was allegedly tortured by a 'baiga' (self-proclaimed healer) in the name of "exorcism" to cure her illness in Raipur district.
Komal Tarak (35) has been arrested in connection with the incident which took place yesterday in Mana Basti area on the outskirts of the state capital, SHO Mana Basti police station, Jeetendra Tamrakar told PTI today.
The incident came to light late last night when the victim, a native of Purani Basti area here, was admitted at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital with multiple injuries, he said.
As per the preliminary investigation, the girl, who is currently pursuing masters in commerce, was suffering from some kind of illness from past few days and despite treatment her condition was not improving, Tamrakar said.
"Believing that some evil spirit has taken hold of the girl, her father who is a government employee took her to Tarak yesterday," the officer said.
In her statement, the girl said she was tortured by Tarak for about two hours during which he beat her and also branded her with an iron rod, besides squeezing lemon into her eyes, he said.
Later, Kamleshwai's parents brought her home, the officer said, adding it was the girl's elder sister who got her admitted to the hospital and also informed police.
A case has been registered against Tarak, parents of the victim and her uncle on the sister's complaint.
The SHO said the victim's parents and her uncle are absconding and efforts are on to trace them.
Meanwhile, a doctor attending to the girl said her condition is stable. "While one of her eyes is back to normal, another eye is under observation," he added.
